Assaulted girlfriend after baby’s Christening

Staff Reporter

A Ballykelly man who assaulted his partner of seven and a half years after the Christening of their baby has been sentenced to eight months in prison, at Derry Magistrates Court.

Shane Boucher, 27, with an address at Kings Lane, Ballykelly pleaded guilty to a charge of Common Assault this morning via videolink from Maghaberry Prison.

The court heard that police were called to Boucher’s home following a 999 call on August 3 of this year.

There they heard that Boucher and his partner had been celebrating the Christening of their baby that day when they had a verbal altercation at Granny Annie’s Bar in Limavady.

Following the dispute, Boucher’s partner had decided to go home early. She was at home when she heard kicks to the back door before Boucher made his way into the property and assaulted her.

When police arrived at the property they noticed that the injured party had a cut to her ear, where she had been wearing an earring, and a cut to her knee. Boucher told police her had pushed past her, shook her and she had fallen and cut herself on some glass.

He told police he had grabbed her by the throat using his two hands, but that he did not feel he had been choking her.

His defence solicitor told the court that Boucher had made a full admission to what he had done at the earliest possible opportunity and that without his admission there may not have been a case to answer.

District Judge Barney McElholm noted that Boucher had five previous convictions for serious assaults in his record - adding that he wished he knew whether or not those matters were also related to domestic violence.

“Perhaps that is something the DOJ (Department of Justice) may want to look at,” he said.

Addressing Boucher he said: “You have serious record of violence and you could have very seriously injured this woman.”

After sentencing Bouncher to eight months in prison, he added: “If this man comes before this court again for a further serious assault case, I will be declining jurisdiction on the matter and will send the case directly to the Crown Court.”